I’m Not Sorry There’s Nothing to Say

Photo by Matthew Henry from Burst

I’m always amazed when the Weight Watchers topic of the week corresponds with my life. You think by now I would have figured it out. I get the guide a month in advance, giving me the ability to peek ahead to the topics that are coming, but I guess at that time I can’t always relate to them nor do they account for unplanned events. I’ve been hesitant to write this post, but I feel like I need to get some stuff off my chest and my blog has been a good outlet for me and my readers have been incredibly supportive. (Thank you for that!!) It’s also a personal insight into emotional eating, which is this week’s topic at Weight Watchers. I also feel like I should explain why I’ve been pretty distracted lately (aside from the fact that I’m still growing accustomed to my new life)

Joey and I broke up. I don’t want to get into the details of it, but we’re no longer together. I’m sad, and feeling a little lost, but recognize that it’s the right thing for us. I am grateful that we were together for the last 3 & 1/2 years; he’s really been a huge supporter of me in everything I’ve done.

I haven’t had to deal with the emotions of a break up for quite a long time now, so the feelings are unfamiliar to me. It’s times like this that it’s really easy to turn to food due to feelings of sadness, depression, anger or loneliness. My response has actually been to do the opposite and I can’t say that I was eating a lot over the last couple of weeks. I’m slowly getting back to normal now that the constant feeling of anxiety and sadness is gone, but it’s definitely taking time

It’s really scary to me that I, knowing all I know and am learning about food and nutrition, would deal with my emotions in such a way. To my defence, I didn’t feel like eating too much after getting out of the hospital (although I believe that my infection probably had to do with the emotions I was feeling too, but we’ll leave that for another post someday) but while things were in limbo and being discussed I did not feel hungry, nor did I feel like eating. I actually felt like like I was in a constant state of nausea, and in that state food did not appeal to me.

I feel so blessed to have amazing friends around me to support me through this difficult time (and in some cases shove delicious tropical smoothies down my throat) These beautiful gals have listened to my feelings, given me a shoulder to cry on and have pushed me to take care of myself.

Part of the recovery from emotional eating (or non-eating) comes from finding non-food ways to deal with your emotions. Some of the things that I’m going to work on this week is getting back to eating and cooking normally, getting back to the gym (attending a BodyFlow class at lunch today) and doing some nice things for me (like booking a massage and being kind to myself in rehearsal for my show) I’ve also been pretty busy with school, rehearsal and leading up to 8 WW meetings a week, but I think that’s helping me to keep my mind occupied.

Maybe right now it’s not a break up that’s causing you to eat, perhaps you eat when you’re stressed or happy or tired or anxious. Whatever your reason, it’s important to try and find other ways to cope that aren’t related to food. Do something that makes you feel good. Phone a friend. Practice yoga. Go shopping. Take your dog for a walk. Rearrange your closet. Read. Sleep. You’ll be taking care of yourself and end up feeling so much better in the long run.

I appreciate the gentle reminder from the Weight Watchers corporate writers gods to take care of myself this week in ways that don’t involve food (or not food) I’m working on getting back to me in the best and only ways I know how.